Age Categories – Page 139 – Disability Day of Mourning

Daniel and Luke Schlemmer

Photo of Daniel Schlemmer, a young boy wearing glasses and a navy T-shirt with a name tag on it. He has short blond hair and fair skin. — Daniel Schlemmer

Name: Daniel Schlemmer.
Died: April 5, 2014.
Age at death: 6.

Name: Luke Schlemmer.
Died: April 1, 2014.
Age at death: 3.

Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: McCandless, Pennsylvania, USA.
Disability: None; mother believed they were autistic.

Photo of Luke Schlemmer, a toddler boy with fair skin and blond hair. He is sticking his tongue out and smiling. — Luke Schlemmer

Details:
Brothers Daniel and Luke were drowned in the bathtub by their mother, because she was convinced they were autistic and would be “better off in heaven”. Luke died right away; Daniel lingered on life support for a few days.

A year before, she had tried to kill them by tying them up with twine and running over them with her car several times trying to “end their suffering”. They were hospitalized with broken bones, but their mother claimed it had been an accident and no action was taken. A year later, the boys were dead.

Case status:
Laurel Michelle Schlemmer (Mother), plead guilty to third-degree murder, sentenced to 30-80 years.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Daniel and Luke Schlemmer
Psychiatrists say mom knew she was drowning kids
Tub-drowning suspect said she drove over her sons repeatedly a year earlier
Ability to premeditate argued with McCandless mom who drowned sons
Psychiatrists say McCandless mom is mentally ill, but knew she was killing her kids
Psychiatrists say mom understood she was killing kids in tub
Pressure drove ‘ideal, Christian’ mom to drown kids: witness
Psychiatrists testify in McCandless woman’s drowning trial
Husband: Tub drowning suspect said she drove over their sons
Laurel Schlemmer, Pa. mom, found guilty but mentally ill in child bathtub drownings
McCandless mother found guilty of drowning her two sons
North Hills mom found guilty of murdering 2 young sons
A mother’s belief her sons had disabilities led to their drowning deaths
Mother gets 30 to 80 years in sons’ bathtub drownings
Monster mum hearing ‘crazy voices’ drowned her two sons in the bath because she wrongly believed they had autism… now she’s jailed for 80 years
Monster mum drowned sons aged 3 and 6 in bathtub wrongly believing they had autism
McCandless woman who drowned two sons sentenced to 30 to 80 years in prison
Mom Sentenced For Drowning 2 Young Sons In Bathtub To Be A Better Mother To Other Son

Hannah Hoag

No Photo Name: Hannah Hoag.
Died: March 26, 2014.
Age at death: 18 months.
Cause of death: Suffocation.
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.
Disability: Tumor in her trachea.

Details:
Because Hannah had a tumor in her trachea, she had a tube to keep her airway open, and had monitoring equipment to alert family if the tube became dislodged.

Hannah’s mother put her in her crib and turned off the monitoring equipment. The tube was pulled out–either by Hannah or by her mother–and Hannah suffocated.

Case status:
Rebecca Cotes (Adoptive mother), convicted of involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to 4 1/2 months in jail.

Source:
Mom accused of manslaughter in toddler’s asphyxiation death wants test of medical equipment
Jury: Wyoming mother guilty in toddler’s death
Woman gets leniency for accidental death of child

Jonathan Samuel

No Photo Name: Jonathan Samuel.
Died: March 24, 2014.
Age at death: 13.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury.
Location: Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, USA.
Disability: Down syndrome, autism.

Details:
Jonathan’s brother shot him with a shotgun, then killed him with a knife and a machete. He also killed Jonathan’s father, Eldon Samuel Jr.

Jonathan’s brother claimed that it was Jonathan’s autism that caused their father to become addicted to painkillers and hit him, and that that was why he killed his father and brother.

Case status:
Eldon Gale Samuel III (Brother); convicted of first-degree murder and second-degree murder, sentenced to 20 years.

Source:
Autism Memorial: Jonathan Samuel
Teen confesses to killing family using a machete, guns and knife
Judge in family deaths case says suspect, 14, cited brother’s autism
Coeur D’alene Double Killing Leaves Family Grieving
Jury hears more about brother who was killed
Idaho teen sentenced 20 years in deaths of father, brother

Liam Fee

Name: Liam Fee, a.k.a. Liam Johnson.
Died: March 22, 2014.
Age at death: 2.
Cause of death: Traumatic injury to heart.
Location: Thornton, Fife, Scotland, UK.
Disability: Autism.

Details:
Liam was beaten so badly by his mother and stepmother that his heart burst. They tried to blame his death on his seven-year-old brother, but were later charged with murder. It turned out that they had also abused Liam’s two older brothers, and probably intimidated one of them into falsely confessing to murder.

Case status:
Rachel Fee (Mother), convicted of murder, child abuse and neglect, sentenced to 23-and-a-half years to life.
Nyomi Fee (Stepmother), convicted of murder, child abuse and neglect, sentenced to 24 years.

Source:
Rachel Fee and Nyomi Fee jailed for life for the murder of tragic tot Liam Fee
Autism Memorial: Liam Fee
Mother and partner deny murdering Fife toddler Liam Fee
Lesbian partners found GUILTY of murdering 2-year-old boy subjected to ‘heartless cruelty’ before he died
Gateshead murder accused took toddler out of nursery after concerns raised by social services
New evidence of Liam Fee social work visit weeks before murder

Tyron Honeywood

Photo of Tyron Honeywood, a young man with brown hair and light skin sitting cross-legged in a wheelchair and smoking a cigarette. He is wearing sunglasses, gloves, and black athletic pants and hoodie. Name: Tyron Paul Honeywood.
Died: March 21, 2014.
Age at death: 25.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Disability: Paraplegic.

Details:
Tyron was shot dead by his father.

Case status:
Brian Robert Honeywood (Father), pleaded guilty to murder, committed suicide just before sentencing.

Source:
Perth father charged with murder of paraplegic son
Brian Honeywood pleads guilty to murdering paraplegic son Tyron in their Midland home
Father, 60, in court on murder charge over disabled son, Tyron Paul Honeywood’s death
Midland man s death a homicide: police
Tyron HONEYWOOD Obituary

James Sootheran

Photo of a middle-aged man in a beige cardigan, sitting in a living chair and reading a book. He has light skin, balding black hair and a beard. Name: James “Anthony” Sootheran.
Died: March 18, 2014.
Age at death: 59.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: South Newington, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
Disability: Mental illness.

Details:
James lived with his elderly mother and a couple who cared for them. He and his mother owned a large property. After James’s mother died, his caregiver and her husband decided that they wanted the family’s money, so they forged a will that entitled them to an inheritance. Realizing that they couldn’t inherit until James was dead, they took advantage of his mental illness and tendency to self-neglect. They locked him in a single filthy room where he starved to death.

Mr. Sootheran was a retired auctioneer’s clerk.

Case status:
Lynda Rickard (Tenant, household member), convicted of murder, sentenced to 28 years to life.
Wayne Rickard (Tenant, household member), convicted of causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult, sentenced to 10-and-a-half years.

Source:
Lynda Rickard: Woman who forged millionaire’s will and starved him to death to inherit slice of his estate is jailed for life
Oxfordshire couple starved man to death for windfall, court hears
Husband and wife starved their live-in landlord to death, court hears

June Lang

No Photo Name: June Lang.
Died: March 16, 2014.
Age at death: 75.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Disability: Blind.

Details:
After June insisted that the couple should move into an assisted living center, her husband shot her to death.

Case status:
Jack Lang (Husband); pleaded guilty to reckless homicide; sentenced to 8 years.

Source:
Police: Man killed wife after 56 years of marriage because she was “nagging” him
Oak Creek man who killed wife of 55 years sentenced to 8 years in prison

Anayah Williams

Name: Anayah Navaeh Williams.
Died: March 15, 2014.
Age at death: 1.
Cause of death: Internal injuries.
Location: Frederick, Maryland, USA.
Disability: Cerebral palsy.

Details:
Anayah was badly injured from one of her father’s beatings, and her mother did not call for help because her father said Child Protective Services would get involved. Anayah died from her injuries.

There is some evidence that Anayah’s cerebral palsy was actually caused by her father, who hit her when she was an infant, causing a skull fracture. The Maryland legislature later passed “Anayah’s Law”, meant to help prevent children from being returned to abusive parents.

Case status:
Frankie Williams (Father), pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and child abuse, sentenced to 60 years to life in prison.
Stephanie Ramirez Williams (Mother), pled no contest to first-degree child abuse resulting in death; sentenced to 20 years.

Source:
Mother faces 20 years after entering plea in Anayah Williams’ death
Man pleads guilty in high-profile toddler death case
Man gets life for fatally abusing his disabled daughter

Alexa-Marie Quinn

Photo: A fair-skinned, brown-haired girl wearing a pink shirt with a yellow flower, smiling. Name: Alexa-Marie Quinn.
Died: March 12, 2014.
Age at death: 4.
Cause of death: Extreme blunt-force trauma.
Location: Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK.
Disability: Fetal alcohol syndrome.

Details:
Alexa-Marie’s father beat her to death.

Case status:
Carl Wheatley (Father), convicted of murder, sentenced to 21 years to life.

Source:
Alexa-Marie Quinn murder: Councils failed to understand risks
Carl Wheatley denies murder of daughter Alexa-Marie Quinn
Girl, 4, beaten to death by her dad was ‘let down’ by social services

Harlan Haynes

Photo: An older man with a full gray beard and hair; he is fair-skinned, balding, wearing tinted glasses. Name: Harlan Haynes.
Died: March 12, 2014 (Body found).
Age at death: 96.
Cause of death: Starvation.
Location: South Kitsap, Washington, USA.
Disability: Unspecified.

Details:
Harlan was neglected by his daughter; he died of starvation.

Case status:
Renee Roberta Nash (Daughter); pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree manslaughter; sentenced to 2 years in prison.

Source:
Caretaker gets 2 years in prison for father’s death
South Kitsap woman jailed on murder charge in father’s death